ये हौसला कैसे झुके

Click here to listen to the song

ये हौसला कैसे झुके 
ये आरज़ू कैसे रुके - 2

मंजिल मुश्किल तो क्या 
धुन्दला साहिल तो क्या 
तनहा ये दिल तो क्या 
हो हो 

राह पे कांटे बिखरे अगर 
उसपे तो फिर भी चलना ही है 
शाम छुपाले सूरज मगर 
रात को इक दिन ढलना ही है 

रुत यें टल जाएगी 
हिम्मत रंग लाएगी 
सुबह फिर आएगी 
हो हो 

ये हौसला कैसे झुके 
ये आरज़ू कैसे रुके - 2

होगी हमें तो रहमत अदा 
धुप कटेगी साए टले
अपनी खुदा से है ये दुआ 
मंजिल लगाले हमको गले 

जुर्रत सो बार रहे 
ऊँचा इकरार रहे 
जिंदा हर प्यार रहे 

हो हो 

ये हौसला कैसे झुके 
ये आरज़ू कैसे रुके - 2

Taking a Stand

Last Saturday I was at my daughter's school at 11:30am guided by the circular that wanted the parents to be there to order school photographs. When I went there it was chaos at its best, fish market!!!

Being urban we have kinda lost the rushing in crowds thing but yes we have braced through it in childhood and when the need arises, I can be at my best :) So I was there fighting my way to the beginning of the crowd, near the table, about to order my photographs and a teacher from the school checks with the photographer guy as to why there is so much commotion and he should stop activities and organize things.

As he was trying to figure how to deal with the mess he created. There was a lady from the parents group, who was outraged, raised her hands calling out loudly to all parents to talk to the Principal and to deal with the situation. She went to the reception and created the required noise. Many parents joined in, including me.

Our demands were:

• Why is it not organised? The Prinicipal says we dont get involved. We felt they should and not let the photographer create the mess
• Why should we order class photographs, they can be sent through the student? The Prinicipal agreed to do so
• For the annual day photographs we suggested put in on a site, we pick up the number and send it on email for order. The Principal was not sure how to take this ahead but they finally decided to have it done class wise rather than Nursery to Twelfth classes parents called at one time.

As all this was being discussed and agreed upon. Some parents went to the photographer's assistant and were busy giving orders till it was stopped by us complaining to the admin guy (who was told by the Principal to correct the situation).

I was really disappointed at the selfishness of these parents who were all fine with the chaotic situation so that they can just get done with it and also taking advantage that most of the parents were there discussing with the Principal, what a selfish attitude.

I am in all praise of the lady who stood as a leader to drive the parents to form a group and take on this issue.

Remember "Take a Stand" if not "Take a stand to support" :)

Its now!

I had been so hurt, that I don't want to let go of the feeling. How could I? I am so a part of my misery that I wouldn't want it to be all by itself and not be identified as "My Pain".

The past thats gone, yeah very recent, but it doesn't exist. I decide I need to drop it. I call and say "I love you". Lets meet and have a good time.

The smile lingers!! The dreams are there...

Anxious about the future! Oh you are going away...? and I will miss the sublime sweetness life has gifted me. I may lose you forever. Holding you tight and close, its the fear of a painful tomorrow. God, close to my ears, whispers: "Aren't you missing the now? and remember I have a beautiful future for you"

The now! Vast, forever, deep, loving and bright....very bright..the now is real. I don't need to live in the past or the future.....

Be quick to express

Today I called hubby and told him "Iam sorry" for the altercations I had with him on silly issues. Well marital life is about that :) I felt so good to express it so :)

And I sent a mail to an old friend who had been kind to me years back when I was in need of help. Its been 4 years but I thought its never to late to express gratitude.

So be quick to express, say "I am sorry" and "Thank you" as soon as you can :)

Breaking Away

Its hard on me to let go
tho its hard to stay here
for this world is yours
the rules please you so

I want to fly so high
away from the shackles
thats set to tame my spirit
but the bird will soar

I am breaking away
my heart needs love
you can keep the world
and the chains you adore

You know its not love

Why search for love?
If you know it not
Who is there to find?
you'll lose all you got

swirl & twirl to music
unknown & soft words
kiss & dance the night
are you drunk on life?

so warm is the body
for the soul sees death
give me more time
to leave my heart here

You know its not love
my pain survives you
the beauty of sacrifice
paves a path for me & you

मोहब्बत का पैगाम

हम फ़र्ज़ अदा करते हैं दिल तोड़ने का , 
वो सोचते है कि हम उन्हें भूल गए , 
मगर वोह हमारे हर सांस में है , 
खुदा जाने यें कैसी मोहब्बत है 

Empty Soul

hand in hand v go
and my heart smiles
the wind hits us so
and it takes u away
i look at you go

crying each day
empty is the soul
the body so heavy
drag it with pain
life got no goal

black & dark skies
its about to rain
in a flash I learn
I blamed d wind when
it was but the stars

Excited about 2010

Every year is leading to another and each as important. First half of 2009 went in recovering from a surgery in Dec 2008 and when I was back in action around June 2009, the ball was rolling boy !!!

There were challenges in business in terms of partners but I know I learnt a lot and dealt with the issues good. I then met up with new partners a few weeks back and I must say business has just grown after that.

As usual I enjoyed trips to Gurgaon to catch up with Srid. The trips to Ooty- Cunnoor later followed by Chikamgalur will always be part of my sweet memories.

Well right now I look forward to our vacations in Mumbai and then the parties we plan with Sis and cousins when I am back.......

The activities I missed doing:

• Landmark
• Isha 
• Social Service
• Regular Yoga and Meditation

Now I am going to miss today's evening Yoga but going to visit an Uncle at hospital.....

And tomorrow back to work ...:)

And he spoke to me....

I have these conversations with God, sometimes when I am in deep meditative states. And I dunno if its God or my protecting spirit/angel but I call him "My God" :)

And a day back when God spoke to me in his soft but firm voice, I would never be able explain the way I perceive it. Its full of humility but yet someone who knows all...

As he was saying nice things to me, that brought me so much cheer (he loves to cheer me up :)) and as I was smiling, I told him "God, I am sorry, I wronged"

He responded slow, deliberately but lovingly "Dear I know no wrong"

And the conversation ended. I began to contemplate on it, and I thought that its we humans who decide the wrong or the right, we give it definitions to suffer ourselves into pain.

So when we point a finger at someone and say "Hey you are wrong or you wronged me" ain't it just definitions, our interpretations, stories (as in landmark education terminology)

There is so much love for ourselves and the world if we are not slotting our actions and everyone else's as right or wrong...

I need to now get back to my project work...had to type this down, to pass this message from my God :)

Just here

All what we want is just here right within our reach but we are so busy searching it all around. We never find what we seek not because we don't see it. Did you ever wonder?  Finding it is not what we are here for but its the searching we got to do.

Ask, Seek & Knock

In my school days I always waited for this hymn:

---------------------------------
Ask and keep on Asking
and it shall be given to you

Seek and keep on Seeking
and you shall find

Knock and keep on Knocking
and the door shall be open unto you

For everyone who asks - gets
the one who seeks shall find
the one who knocks the door shall be opened
so ask, seek, knock
------------------------------------------

Time hasn't allowed me to forget this beautiful hymn :)

Good and Evil - Kahlil Gibran

And one of the elders of the city said, "Speak to us of Good and Evil."

And he answered:

Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil.

For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?

Verily when good is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves, and when it thirsts, it drinks even of dead waters.

You are good when you are one with yourself.

Yet when you are not one with yourself you are not evil.

For a divided house is not a den of thieves; it is only a divided house.

And a ship without rudder may wander aimlessly among perilous isles yet sink not to the bottom.

You are good when you strive to give of yourself.

Yet you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself.

For when you strive for gain you are but a root that clings to the earth and sucks at her breast.

Surely the fruit cannot say to the root, "Be like me, ripe and full and ever giving of your abundance."

For to the fruit giving is a need, as receiving is a need to the root.

You are good when you are fully awake in your speech,

Yet you are not evil when you sleep while your tongue staggers without purpose.

And even stumbling speech may strengthen a weak tongue.

You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps.

Yet you are not evil when you go thither limping.

Even those who limp go not backward.

But you who are strong and swift, see that you do not limp before the lame, deeming it kindness.

You are good in countless ways, and you are not evil when you are not good,

You are only loitering and sluggard.

Pity that the stags cannot teach swiftness to the turtles.

In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you.

But in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea, carrying the secrets of the hillsides and the songs of the forest.

And in others it is a flat stream that loses itself in angles and bends and lingers before it reaches the shore.

But let not him who longs much say to him who longs little, "Wherefore are you slow and halting?"

For the truly good ask not the naked, "Where is your garment?" nor the houseless, "What has befallen your house?"

Khalil Gibran 

The Only Bondage

You did escape the trap
of elemental hive

But its your own doing
that is the ultimate trap

Till you go beyond your own crap
there is no way to break this trap

-Sadhguru

Weather! whether?

“Whether the weather be fine, Whether the weather be not, Whether the weather be cold, Whether the weather be hot, We'll weather the weather, Whatever the whether, Whether we like it or not”

Crumbled Dry Leaves

she holds her book
Sits under the tree
she feels the beauty
the world is amazing
no reason for a tear


she reads the words
her eyes now close
there is darkness
she is in the past
it was so beautiful

shaken back to now
all is peace & love
takes a deep breath
and life feels vast
for it rapidly moves

joy cost her nothing
pain has no meaning
we create our lives
crumbled dry leaves
she blows them away

The Game of Life & Losing

Its pain and fear forever to a human as the entire moments are lived. The perpetual anxiety of losing what we have: material assets, people we love, positions we hold, power wielded. No no no, don't take it away.....

"Awareness is the key" : is what any of the spiritual guru would say. Is there any loss when there was nothing that is mine : not any at all. We don't exist forever, nothing else does, its all a game. A game of life.

What we see is provided to us to play the game. We dont own them though we perceive it so. When we attach our identity to these objects, losing them is misery and suffering. We are in constant search of newer objects to attach to.

Take this analogy, while you play a video game or a sport we get tools and objects to play the game it doesn't belong to us. We enjoy playing the game and losing means playing again. Same goes with life, this life time if we don't get the game we play it again till we realise the game of life and then the game ends.

So right now: "Life is beautiful and play the game" :)

[Though these are my words, I wrote it in my diary when it came in as a surge of thoughts from an unknown source. I am just the medium not the source of this]

Light my life

Is it true that you are with me

it'll take a lifetime to sink in

Can you explain, who are you

and why are you here so close

I can feel it and see it too

its so warm and cozy with you

living and dying everyday

a dream so lovely & beautiful

Dont I see it, you are here

carrying a flame in the heart

to burn and light my life

vanquishing all pain & sorrow

no anxiety about the future

its this very moment I live

there is no parting of ways

the flame burns for ever

WT'X' is love?

Murali (a friend best avoided but hard to ignore) says I am totally outta my mind and jobless..oh yeah, my reasoning: one needs to keep busy and the blog active...so here I am with the insights from my survey on a small sampling of people on 'What the "whatever" is Love'

This survey doesn't give any reports or end results, it should actually not be called one. Its just a collation of well thought ideas:

Amrita: well how to define love...when it's the most simple & pure at one side...on the other its not easy to define love...cause you can only feel it...words are not enough to express that feeling...only the heart loves the heart knows what actually it is.

You are in love when you would rather not live life without the other person, when he or she is the first that springs to mind in happiness or grief; when the other person is a constant companion even in absentia and when sometimes your loved one's happiness takes precedence over yours.

Jassi: I dont

Jassi (after few hours): a friend of mine once said that, love is the purest form of emotional happiness

Arul: it is everything for holding on to letting go to giving space and taking space for one's self

Anonymous : which was there for ever ...is there around & will remain for ever

Tim: there is only one relationship

and that relationship is only with u and only u

and if u can have a great relationship with u

then u get many lovers, be loved, be appreciated etc etc

Me: Love is the essence of life

Suresh Nair: True love is a feeling that there is NO difference between you and the person who you are loving. Like one soul and one body. But everybody in this world is unique. That is why it is difficult to find love in earth. But don't give up. Keep on looking everwhere. You may find that one day.

Manish Chakravarty: Love is the comfort of being with someone.

T Chendil Kumar: love is a feeling that activates all the senses, except the common sense !

Srini Jaltaru: love is little more than liking each other....no matter what is the custom/religion/country, romantic love plays an important role, while cultural differences in how that love appears vary....the fact is that "romantic love exists" is undoubtful.

Getting the good routine back

Post surgery, from the past 8 months I have just not exercised, ignored my food habits, stopped yoga & meditation and instead I have taken on to all that could worsen my healh both physically and mentally.

I am really missing not playing the regular badminton with the girls, the daily morning and evening yoga and of course meditation. I need gumption to get back to my routine. Right now I have disciplined myself to be more organized to achieve this.

So today I was able to spend time with Nidhi on her studies, the one hour teaching I was following earlier. I am raring to feel the energy in doing whats good for me and the control over my time.

In another hour will be my evening Yoga, yippee...I am almost there :)

Wish me good luck fellas!

The Truth sets you Free

Havent we heard of this so many times: "The Truth will set you free" and it has always been my only guiding path. I was so upbeat and gratified all these days. Without a reason and with no explanation I received immeasurable joy....though somewhere I lost my prudence.

We love lying to ourselves ignoring those signals so clear and loud and continue to believe life the way we want it to be.

The Truth however shocking and cruel, uplifts us and clears all the baggage we carry to unburden the soul.

Filling me with so much of peace & a calmness after the storm :). A reason to clear the canvas and put in new colors!

Convenient Love

You say you love & I too do

do we really mean those words

Is it just let we feel good

do we ever feel from the heart

do we give any damn for that

for its just a convenient love

I sometimes want to walk away

there is a freedom from pain

I can see my heart needs more

And it could be gone in a day

but I dont want to hurt again

for its just a convenient love

I think hard and let it be

let the moments be as it is

why worry and fret for me

tho the outcome is so unsure

but why run from being hurt

bcos its love and beyond me

The flight

Writhing in extreme pain

a broken wing and bleeding

the bird battled in vain

getting closer I lifted it

it was an unbearable sight

I was weeping at its plight

cleaning its wounds gently

nursing it back to good health

giving away life and blood

to see its heart flutter back

kissing, loving and touching

it smiled back and frolicked

we played in the sunshine

the darkness and the moon

a fine day it was ready to fly

flew far away to a distant land

as I looked up the sky tearfully

watching the bird's awaited flight

Fear of Losing you

I wish I was a tear in your eyes, then I would run down your cheeks and dry on your lips then again, I wish you were a tear in my eyes, then I would never cry, out of fear of losing you.

A quote for Independence Day

A person who lives in another country detesting one's own is like choosing a rich neighbor aunt to one's own loving but poor mother...

Krishna nee begane baro

krishna nee bEganE baarO
bEganE baarO mukavannu tOrO
krishna nee bEganE baarO

kaalaalandhigE gejje niladhabaavuli
nilavarNane naaTya maaduta baarO
krishna nee bEganE baarO

Odiyalli odigejje beraLalli ongura
koraLalli haakita vajayantimaalE
krishna nee bEganE baarO

Listen to it

kaasi peeTambara kaiyalli koLalu
pushita shreegandha mayallOLagamma
krishna nee bEganE baarO

taayige baayalli jagavannu torita
jagadhOdhaaraka namma uDupi shree krishna
krishna nee bEganE baarO

Life is happening :)

Sudden surge of projects in our company, lots of work but isn’t this what I wanted. Meetings, documents, calls, coordination, cash, cheques, resources, interviews ...the list is endless :) drove me near to madness last week but a 4 day break saved me :)

Family time is so de-stressing and makes all this worth it. There is so much magic and beauty of love in marriage. The love thats growing as the years pass by and a little one to further expand the happiness...!!

"A beautiful relationship does not depend upon how good we understand someone but on how well we avoid misunderstandings."

Spent lots of time cooking, long drives, activities with my daughter, cousins for lunch, attending satsang, just a nice cozy evening...leaving me relaxed and in peace, the boost my brain needed. Now when I am in midst of work with a big list to follow, I am working on it but not worried!

And how can I ignore the lovely events occurring in life. Connecting with new friends, strengthening the current ones and reconnecting with the long lost ones...& a happy soul I am with so much to cheer and smile about :)

"A bird does not sing because it has an answer -- it sings because it has a song."

Finally get to write some text on this blog; post awakening of my brain ....I can now write those long overdue words for a dear friend :)...wait up friend: its coming by :)

Living in the past

I seek my past in the present so as much that I dont know the present exists. It ceases to be there in my timeline. I would do anything to get that broken heart healed or that friend come back to me but what about this lovely picture being painted right in front of me, it doesnt matter I am not part of this. I am the missing piece in anything beautiful.

I brood and cry over whats gone by, I run through each event I spent with you because thats all I have, memories. My life is so desolate without you.

If I have a past and no present, I have absolutely no future. Who cares about the present and the future, I am in love with my past.

Dont shake me, dont wake me, let me go backwards in time and sleep in the coziness of my melancholy to never return again.

Early Education System in India

Early education in India especially in the middle class is about competitiveness, scoring and ranking higher. Every city has its varying degrees of aggressiveness. If one belongs to a city where the education culture is so built around tuitions, prep classes, guides, student groups and school's additional enforcements a student can easily score an admirable percentage in the 10th class.

The fallback of such a system is lack of good development of the child in other aspects of his/her personality. Such children later grow up to become adults who probably are failures in their interpersonal skills, relationships and don’t accept shortcomings easily.

With this said about the tough expectations a student may have to deal with does the scrapping of the 10th class exams help? Not really! Examinations are required to focus a child's faculties towards understanding the subject and giving timelines to see early education to a completion. It’s just the attitude of the parents and teachers that need to be worked upon to bring about seeing examination as a healthy system, rather than having a whole system of guide books, early morning & late evening tuitions to excel.

Nagendra haraya Trilochanaya

Listen to it here:

Nagendra haraya Trilochanaya,
Basmanga ragaya maheswaraya,
Nithyaya shudhaya digambaraya,
Tasmai nakaraya namashivaya. 1

My salutations to the letter 'Na' , which is Shiva,
Who wears as garland the king of snakes.
Who has three eyes,
Who wears ash all over Him,
Who is the greatest Lord,
Who is forever,
Who is the cleanest,
And who wears the directions themselves as dress.

Mandakini salila chandana charchithaya,
Nandeeswara pramadha nadha maheswaraya,
Mandara pushpa bahu pushpa supoojithaya,
Tasmai makaraya namashivaya. 2

My salutations to the letter 'Ma' , which is Shiva,
Who is bathed by waters of Ganga,
Who applies sandalpaste all over him,
Who has Lord Nandi as his chieftain,
Who is the greatest lord,
And who is worshipped by Mandhara and many other flowers.

Shivaaya gowri vadanara vinda,
Sooryaya daksha dwara naasakaya,
Sri neela kantaya vrisha dwajaya,
Tasmai sikaraya namashivaya. 3

My salutations to the letter 'Si' , which is Shiva,
Who is peace personified,
Who is like Sun to the Lotus face of Gowri,
Who destroyed the fire sacrifice of Daksha,
Who has a blue neck,
And who has a bull in his flag.

Vasishta kumbhodhbhava gowthamadhi.
Munendra devarchitha shekaraya,
Chandrarka vaiswanara lochanaya,
Tasmai vakaraya namashivaya 4

My salutations to the letter 'Va' , which is Shiva,
Who is worshipped by great sages like
Vasishta, Agasthya and Gowthama,
As also the devas,
And who has sun, moon and fire as his three eyes.

Yaksha swaroopaya jada dharaya,
Pinaka hasthathaya sanathanaya,
Divyaya devaaya digambaraya,
Tasmai yakaraya namashivaya. 5

My salutations to the letter 'Ya' , which is Shiva,
Who takes the form of Yaksha,
Who has a tufted hair,
Who is armed with spear,
Who is forever filled with peace,
Who is godly,
Who is the great God,
And who wears the directions themselves as dress.

Phalasruthi

Panchaksharamidham punyam,
Ya padeth Shiva sannidhou,
Shivaloka mavapnothi,
Shive na saha modathe .

Those who read these holy five letters great,
In the temple of Shiva,.
Would go to the world of Shiva,
And be forever happy with Him.

Translated by P R Ramachander.

Vacationing!!!???

A week back, this vacation I am in,  felt like a very bad timing. AQMI employed 7 new marketing executives and we already had 3 employees. Training of the marketing executives started immediately to induct them into the system and the thought process. Nights when I went to bed it was tiring but I was learning in leaps and bounds. Whatever side of the organization one is, employee or employer, the experience gained is tremendous.

Orane Solutions, our IT company was also gaining some head way. So far we were moving but in small and slow steps. Out of the blue a good deal was on its way. I inititated the activity by meeting the client but the subsquent meetings would be attended by my other 2 partners. Then again, I was reminded this was not a good time to vacation.

Monday, when I was supposed to travel to Gurgaon for my 20 day vacation, the marketing executives had to step out and walk into the client spaces. All set and ready, extremely enthusiastic and excited. I wanted to be part of all this but then I had to go, so here I am. Yesterday evening I heard some good news, the marketing visits were in the positive direction. There were no sales but there was good movement and follow ups needed, which meant lots of hope.

Today, Nagesh and Prasad (my partners in Orane) are working towards meeting the client and also working on the presentation.

So actually I can cool my heels and relax a bit now. This is a well deserved vacation.......:)

And as a true business woman, I wouldnt let this travel expense go a waste. Meeting my cousin who will be heading the north india marketing office of AQMI to train him about the services so that he can market it the right away. Further, taking him along for business discussions as Im looking at office space in Delhi and also seeking business associations.

But what else is the proof that I have time for myself,  I got time to add this post on my blog :)

Coffee and Smokes: Meeting a Senior Manager (#2)

[If you haven’t, please read the earlier series on Jyo before you proceed:

Coffee and Smokes: Intro to Jyo (#1)]

Some of Jyo's amusing encounters ensued at this quiet coffee shop. One balmy afternoon, Jyo is engrossed in figuring out the right abuse she should return to her colleague who never spares any opportunity to denunciate her. It could be her dress/makeup, work, boy friend ...oh anything. That meant Jyo needed to be braced in all fronts. Deep in her thoughts and drag after drag she is oblivious of the man right in front of her. There is a tall, stout, puffed up face, fair-skinned man in a black suit asking her for a light. She passes the light without actually looking at him but he is lingering over seeking her attention.

She looks up to meet his piercing gaze. He doesn’t idle in elucidation and blurts "Can I join you?” She says "Of course" and the huge man is seated facing her like a teenager on his first date. She concludes he is about 35 years. His balding patch in the centre of his head and his face does show that he is a stressed and burdened manager in some company. He introduces himself as "Ram" working as a senior manager in a finance company. He queries about her work and her role at her workplace. She slowly talks about herself. Before she could enquire his details, he pulls out his visiting card and remarks "You wouldn’t have thought I am such a senior manager in a company, people say I look very young for my age and I look like a college student" She smiles and nods to show agreement though in her mind she knows she has guessed his age just right :) He then goes on about his personal life. He is married with kids and mentions about his long marriage to his wife. He further states that it is an intercultural marriage. She could see it in his eyes that he is all bonkers over her. She doesn’t like him at all.

He asks for her mobile number which she is really reluctant to give away. For a moment, she is in contention and tempted to give the wrong number. To end this encounter smoothly, she quickly decides to share her mobile number. He is urgently typing the number on his mobile and presses the call button. He is very pleased to see her mobile ring. He saves the number and well Jyo does it too because she always saves numbers of people she likes and dislikes. If the people who were a bother called her she could disconnect or ignore it :) After a few minutes of chat she departs with an excuse that work is waiting and proceeds to her workplace. As she is walking back, she sees a message from Ram: “Jyo, It was great meeting you, please keep in Touch. Love Ram”. "Hey Ram" she thinks “What a prick??!!”

To be named poem

खलकियत नवाज़िश शफकत को भुलादीया
ना गवारी ने उसको नस्ल परस बनादीया
राह तक गयें हम मोहब्बत के पैगाम का
आबो दानाह गुज़र गयी आपके तनफ्फुर का


[to be completed]

Amused?

I liked these quotes, picked up from Readers Digest:


Sympathy: What one girl offers in exchange for details -Aubrey B


If you have integrity, nothing else matters
If you dont have integrity, nothing else matters
-Alan Simpson, Former US Senator

Silent cry

When the vocal fights are futile
There commences the long silent wars
Reticent as the night but raging as the sun
my heart burns, my mind churns the events
Where is the love, what is beauty
who would care for life and death
in arrogance and the need for control

Fretting and fuming, driving me nuts
Suicide or murder sounds like good
but a bright smile of a child
can spoil such wonderful plans
We all are limited, we all are bound
no freedom, and darkness it should be
there aint choices, its the "gifted" path

I recall years ago I picked it up
a beautiful package with a green gem
so dazzling was it that it blinded me
I easily missed the big black stones
The green gem doesnt shine anymore
hands dirty, no escape from fate
and hey, who are you in the mirror?

Coffee and Smokes: Intro to Jyo (#1)

I am writing a fiction series based on a character "Jyo". I don't brand her as the "typical" city girl or a representation of the modern women. She is what circumstances and life has made her. I am building her character based on a few people I know and a dash of me in it too :)


Hope you all like it. I will post often, please keep writing your comments, it could be in form of questions if any queries about Jyo or any curiosity one would have on "Coffee and Smokes".


Enjoy reading :)


Intro to Jyo
------------


She headed to her habitual coffee shop at 11am. This is when she got a break at work and she would spend time with herself. She spread her paraphernalia that comprised of a book, hand bag and shades. She pulled out the smokes and lighter from the handbag and signalled to the waiter to get a coffee, her customary cappuccino. This was an indoor coffee shop unlike the outdoor ones; there was soft music playing and another lone customer smoking away. This was perfect, the fewer the people the better.


She flipped the pages of the book to get to where she had left it last. Her mind though wandered to what happened at work today morning. "Jyo, come here quick, I need to discuss the monthly reports" told her boss on the phone. Her name is Jyothilakshmi but sobriquets get shorter and "western" in the BPO industry and she liked it this way. Jyo loved her job, she was a team lead and had worked for 4 years in the same organization. With all these parameters she knew Bangalore was the place to be. She took a long drag of smoke and sipped the coffee. The warm sun broke through the glass on her chosen table and she liked it. She looked outside the window pane, she saw a couple walking. She could watch them but they couldn’t possibly see her. Her discussion with her boss was good and Indro (Indraneel) was a "gem" she thought and got back to the book she intended to read. Another smoke and she was back to work.

Gurgaon-Delhi-Greater Noida, 2008

Earlier vacations were once in a year and for 3-4 days. It would be usually a trip to my in-laws place in Delhi (they have relocated to Hyderabad). Now I travel more after letting go of a highly paid and growing career wherein I missed one thing vacations ... :)

 

Now I vacation every month and most of my trips head to where my husband is in Gurgaon and I have loved each trip. This time I planned visits to an aunts place and my sis home who just moved in to Greater Noida. Further my many visits had made me comfy to move  alone in the vicinity to shop and watch a movie too :)

 

Day 1 (Mon) at Gurgaon - Wipro guest house in sec 28. Difficult to get out of the bed in the morning and being a Bangalorean 11 to 12 deg c is freezing :). The morning gets warmer as I sip a hot cup of coffee, and browse the TV and newspaper. Nidhi sleeps through it while Sridhar is getting ready to head to work. He is off by 8:30 am. Nidhi and I are at the breakfast table at 9:30 am.

 

After enjoying the breakfast we shower and are out on the road, the sun is so warm and loving. I walk down to a nearby shopping mall; it takes 15-20 minutes. I buy medicines for Nidhi as she has caught a cold. Also wandering and window shopping, I decide to then stop at a book store, head to the children’s section and buy an activity book for Nidhi. We take a rickshaw back home...and enjoyed the ride. Though on the fast track Gurgaon roads with speeding cars, one is precariously holding on to life on a rickshaw but there are the thrills. With no auto in sight and no public transport, this is an easy option.

 

Today night was even more exciting, it’s our marriage anniversary. We complete 9 years of marriage and we are feeling younger by the yearJ. My Father-in-law comes over from Ghaziabad to bless the couple :) and that’s such a nice gesture.

 

Day 2 (Tue) at Gurgaon - Wipro guest house in sec 28. It’s the same cold mornings and the much awaited 9:30am breakfast. At 10:20 am we are out. This time I plan a movie for Nidhi and me. We do a lot of that in Bangalore and enjoy watching movies together. A rickshaw to a nearby mall that has the PVR cinemas. I buy a ticket for Dostana because that’s the one available at 10:45 am, the rest are after 1pm....

 

Dostana is hilarious, and the gay humour was timed so well. The 2nd half had emotional bits but the humour in between kept it going strong :)

I had lunch at Halidrams and we were home in the Rickshaw and Nidhi was pretty used to it by then that she slept in it :)

Late evening we spent time at home, I watched "Welcome to Sajjanpur", since I am from UP I can relate to the language. I liked the good story, dialogues, humour and the emotions aptly put in. Shreyas Talpade did an excellent job.

 

Day 3 (Wed) at Gurgaon - Wipro guest house in sec 28. I was beginning to feel a sore throat and had a running nose. I decided another trip to a shopping mall for shopping or movies can be avoided. Took good rest at the guesthouse, enjoyed the lunch and slept well. Night we were off to Sarita Vihar in Delhi to meet Khatri Uncle, Aunty and their daughter Pallavi. We reached at 10:30 pm in the night and were served chaats which we enjoyed, though they felt that it would taste better if it was hotter and if we had come earlier. They had got it from their regular chaat place. After a long chinwag, we went to sleep unaware of the happenings in Mumbai. Sridhar was back to sec 28 and waiting to be shifted to the new guest house 15kms away at Sonah road.

 

Day 4 (Thu) at Delhi - Khatris. Roused up to the news at Mumbai and we were glued to the TV and ranting our opinions. Uncle and Pallavi had to leave for work at 8:30 am so we had adrak chai and gobi parathas at 8:00 am. Nidhi woke up late and ate cornflakes in hot milk as the dentist had advised soft food.

 

We got off at 11:30 am to Lajpatngar market for shopping. Aunty suggested we can go in the bus and come back in the Auto. I haven’t been in the local bus for like 15 years and this was really exciting. Nidhi and I enjoyed the ride. We bought a sweater (to be gifted to my maid in Bangalore), small pink woollen gloves, black boots and a toy for Nidhi. I bought some books and nighties for myself (I am a big nighty fan ;-)). We were tired and ready for lunch, had dosas in a restaurant there and hopped in an auto back to Sarita Vihar.

 

Uncle and Pallavi were back at home nearing 7pm with hot-hot aloo tikkis and this time they really were so much yummmmmm. Evening we had garam rotis, gobi sabzi and moong dal......enjoyed the meal and was supposed to be picked up by Sridhar but he got really delayed at work and asked me if I can take a drop from someone for the next day morning. I spoke to Uncle and he spoke to a neighbour who drives to work to Gurgaon every morning. We had to sleep early as we had to leave at 7am the next day.

 

Day 5(Fri) at Gurgaon - Sonah Road

Morning I had my adrak chai while watching Mumbai on TV. My bags were packed and Nidhi carried to the living room and still asleep. At 7am she woke up. We were waiting for the gentleman to pick us up. He was Pallavi's schoolmate. He came about 7:20 am. We sat in his car behind with my entire luggage. I left the front seat empty for his colleague whom he would pick up on the way. Sridhar was waiting at the planned drop off point. We got off there and waited for our taxi to take us to the new guesthouse on Sonah Road.

 

The new guesthouse on Sonah Road was pretty far from where we stayed earlier. The flats and its landscaping is beautiful. It is a huge housing complex and has up-to-date facilities. Since the shifting just happened the rooms were very dirty. We had our breakfast and got ready to go down to enjoy the lawns and the beauty of the place. Nidhi played in the children’s section for a long time and we walked a lot exploring the place. We got back to have lunch and sleep well....

 

In the night we headed to Greater Noida to meet my Sis. We reached late at 10:30pm and had great dinner cooked by my sis. We had Rajma, aloo capsicum, peas curry, dal and rice...yum yum....sumptuous meal my younger Sis suddenly feels so much bigger than I perceived :)

We chat late night and sleep off. Nidhi as usual prefers getting friendlier with the girl of the house as his her tradition :)

 

Day 6 (Sat) at Greater Noida

After a good night's sleep in the warm quilt, I woke up to a bright morning at 8:30 am and to a hot cup of coffee. We were in the grass down by 11:30 am. I was basking in the sun while Sridhar and Nidhi were in the children's play area. We left around 1:30pm for a mall “India Palace”. Nidhi immediately found a children’s play area within the mall. We reached at 2:30 pm and were really tired and hungry, had lots of food and came back in the evening tired of eating with bloated stomachs. We chilled and relaxed at Priya's place in the night. Next morning we are at Sonah road.

 

Day 7 (Sun)

We caught a quick grub in the Omaxe mall near the Wipro guesthouse and then it was time to head to airport for my flight. The flight was delayed by an hour. Nidhi and I reached Bangalore at 9:45pm. Mom was waiting at the airport with the driver Prasanna. Gr8 vacation but nothing like being back to Bangalore......love the weather and people here.....mwaaaaaaah...love ya Bangalore :)

 

Games People Play

She says she hates me
He wants to say goodbye
and the kids look away
thats the stories I hear
all times from all so many

Cant people learn to love
from the heart
make life simple
and less complicated
whats the f***ing stress about
use ur brain boy

tonite I am gonna dream
abt a world thats
gone crazier
more fun..and more games
I can play
I actually love it this way

Addictive game - bloxorz

My friend Jagadeesh introduced me to bloxorz and it gets on you, a very addictive game. Its requires good IQ to play it so not anyone who is reading this can succeed..hehee...and the one who is writing this too ;-)
I have only completed 12 levels.....many levels to take on

If you keen on playing it just google for "bloxorz"....my best wishes with u!!

Path

Each on of us has their chosen path. We meet people who are pretty close to our paths. Some so close like our parents, siblings and the closest anyone can get is the spouse. We are as close as being ONE but we still have our tracks to pursue.

And we got our purpose, what ticks for one doesnt necessarily for another but yet some of us like to imitate another killing what the creator has wanted us to do.

Just be....

Simplicity in life

Its wise to shift gears from the complex to simple in life. As a human one needs both, the challenges and the peace. Now as I relax and watch the rains pour down on Bangalore city, I enjoy being able to watch it from the window. Life and its simplicity allows us to actually look at it in deliberation. Also to sit back and appreciate the time gone by. Reminisce tranquillity in the coziness of my home.

No friends on the top?

As one grows in an organization the one constant complain people have "its lonely on the top". I have heard managers telling me that they dont have friends. I believe its a choice they make, a conscious decision to keep distance from the crowd around.

I cant keep away, My very basis of existence is to relate to people, accept them and make them part of my expanding world. Yeah there are problems and issues, I know its there..coming by...I tackle them and then let go any bitterness

So out of 100 people I meet if there are 2 people who bother me and make my life miserable. I am still happy that I have the 98 people who are aligned. The others werent bad just that probably their thoughts, value systems, dreams werent aligned to mine. I let them go on their paths.

A bad incident occurs and then a strong decision is made.."I got hurt so many times so I am cold and keep away."
I am ok to take the risk of getting hurt but want to be warm and allow people to enter my realm

SMS type poem ;-)

An SMS quality poem..made in 2-3 mins for Mr. Sridhar and sent on SMS yesterday night :) Sridhar was impressed...laga ki kuch creativity hoga mujhme ;-)

Kabhi aandhi mein akele thee
Tum Kaheen Door Kho gaye the
Kaali parchaayeen Pukar rahe thee
Maine Pyaar Ka aisa Diya Jalayaa
Tume mere Kitne nazdeek aa gaye

Wanted to save it somewhere...so thot abt this blog!!

FAREWELL LETTER FROM A GENIUS

Subject: FAREWELL LETTER FROM A GENIUS

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, famous writer from Colombia, and Nobel Peace
prize winner for literature, has retired from public life for reasons
of health. He has a form of cancer which is terminal. He has sent a
farewell letter to his friends

It is recommended reading because it is moving to see how one of the
best and most brilliant of writers expresses himself & with sorrow.


He says:

If God, for a second, forgot what I have become and granted me a
little bit more of life, I would use it to the best of my ability. I
wouldn't, possibly, say everything that is in my mind, but I would be
more thoughtful of all I say.

I would give merit to things not for what they are worth, but for
what they mean to express.

I would sleep little, I would dream more, because I know that for
every minute that we close our eyes, we waste 60 seconds of light.

I would walk while others stop; I would awake while others sleep.

If God would give me a little bit more of life, I would dress in a
simple manner, I would place myself in front of the sun, leaving not
only my body, but my soul naked at its mercy.

To all men I would say how mistaken they are when they think that
they stop falling in love when they grow old, without knowing that
they grow old when they stop falling in love.

I would give wings to children, but I would leave it to them to learn
how to fly by themselves.

To old people I would say that death doesn't arrive when they grow
old, but with forgetfulness.

I have learned so much with you all, I have learned that everybody
wants to live on top of the mountain, without knowing that true
happiness is obtained in the journey taken & the form used to reach
the top of the hill.

I have learned that when a newborn baby holds, with its little hand,
his father's finger, it has trapped him for the rest of his life.

I have learned that a man has the right and obligation to look down
at another man, only when that man needs help to get up from the
ground.

Say always what you feel, not what you think. If I knew that today is
the last time that I am going to see you asleep, I would hug you
with all my strength and I would pray to the Lord to let me be the
guardian angel of your soul.

If I knew that these are the last moments to see you, I would say 'I
love you'.

There is always tomorrow, and life gives us another opportunity to do
things right, but in case I am wrong, and today is all that is left
to me, I would love to tell you how much I love you & that I will
never forget you.

Tomorrow is never guaranteed to anyone, young or old. Today could be
the last time to see your loved ones, which is why you mustn't wait;
do it today, in case tomorrow never arrives. I am sure you will be
sorry you wasted the opportunity today to give a smile, a hug, a
kiss, and that you were too busy to grant them their last wish.

Keep your loved ones near you; tell them in their ears and to their
faces how much you need them and love them. Love them and treat them
well; take your time to tell them 'I am sorry';' forgive me','
please' 'thank you', and all those loving words you know.

Nobody will know you for your secret thought. Ask the Lord for wisdom
and strength to express them.

Show your friends and loved ones how important they are to you.

Send this letter to those you love. If you don't do it
today...tomorrow will be like yesterday, and if you never do it, it
doesn't matter, either, the moment to do it is now.

For you,

With much love,

Your Friend,

Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Friends in Oz land

2006 November, I was in Sydney for around 40 days. My colleagues who then turned out to be great friends made my stay fun.
I want to thank them. (Its the season of thanking friends :)

• Barry
• Eva
• Callum

I got busy in life and mailed them after long last week, it felt great catching up. I have to yet talk to Barry tho'

Thank you...

Be grateful to people who make u happy, they are the charming gardeners who make your soul blossom. - Sashi Monica(2006)

These are the friends I would like to thank who have make my life bloom...

• Elizabeth
• Vinayak (Eli's husband)
• Jyothilakshmi (Wipro's Mahila Mandal)
• Amit (Wipro's Meditation group)

I havent communicated with the 1st 3 from ages but I know if I have any happiness or sorrow to share they will hold it close to their heart.

And Amit whom I chat once in a while, who makes me feel so special about myself. He has the power to live up to be a true friend!

Work - Kahlil Gibran

I try hard to explain to my friends and colleagues that work is joy :) I have written an article also on it and I spend hours troubling people and trying to get them understand that work can be fun. When friends tell me "I have to work late/weekends, I am bugged" or "So much work" etc etc...I wonder why is our job such a burden...? Is it the job or the attitude towards it...

This writing from Kahlil Gibran may make sense:

Work

Then a ploughman said, 'Speak to us of Work.'

And he answered, saying:

You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.

For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life's procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.

When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.

Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison?

Always you have been told that work is a curse and labour a misfortune.

But I say to you that when you work you fulfil a part of earth's furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born,

And in keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life,

And to love life through labour is to be intimate with life's inmost secret.

But if you in your pain call birth an affliction and the support of the flesh a curse written upon your brow, then I answer that naught but the sweat of your brow shall wash away that which is written.

You have been told also life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary.

And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,

And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,

And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,

And all work is empty save when there is love;

And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.

And what is it to work with love?

It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.

It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.

It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.

It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,

And to know that all the blessed dead are standing about you and watching.

Often have I heard you say, as if speaking in sleep, 'he who works in marble, and finds the shape of his own soul in the stone, is a nobler than he who ploughs the soil.

And he who seizes the rainbow to lay it on a cloth in the likeness of man, is more than he who makes the sandals for our feet.'

But I say, not in sleep but in the over-wakefulness of noontide, that the wind speaks not more sweetly to the giant oaks than to the least of all the blades of grass;

And he alone is great who turns the voice of the wind into a song made sweeter by his own loving.

Work is love made visible.

And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.

For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man's hunger.

And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine.

And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man's ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night.

Kahlil Gibran

Does silly behaviour bother you?

IF you read my earlier post, this one is inspired by that. I sometimes wonder how some people can really think so low and why I can never think such and that saddens me. But it doesnt help much in my growth or relationships.

So then I thought one must just move on and if the person is unaware they will learn some day...

With this thought process, I twittered and watch this conversation :) :

Satyadarshini: When people operate at a lower thinking level..one should be able to forgive instead of thinking why the person cant behave like myself..!!

twitter: shishir_s: @sandtree tht would like despising them..instead try to pull up their thinking where it can match your own level..

Satyadarshini: @shishir_s yes u r right, I do try that...but in some cases u cant. Also I see them as small kids yet to learn...they wil at some point

twitter: shishir_s: @sandtree gud if you that [:)]...nd i can understand the situations you are talking abt...not always possible to make them sit & understand
Satyadarshini: @shishir_s hey u can be a good friend then..hheehee

Friend?

I was upset about a friend's behaviour. I have very low expectations of a friend and give lot of freedom and space. But there is something basic one expects. If a friend is always unhappy over your happiness, it is something I find totally odd.

So I twittered "I wish we could choose the right friends..or maybe thats why the best friends are just 1 or 2"

Amit saw it on my blog and came out a beautiful post on Friendship:

http://joysandlaughter.blogspot.com/2008/03/thats-for-you-rajat.html

and have been discussing about this with many friends, lots of learning and more posts on my blog too :)

Om Tat Sat - ॐ तत् सत्

I forgot a shloka I caught on a year back and I searched my blog to get the words rights. I am glad this blog is a good repository :). Well, that reminded me I wanted to post this hymn “Om tat sat” by Vinobha Bhave. All these years I have been singing this and I had no clue who was the author. Today while I googled on this, I was surprised to learn that it was written by Vinobha Bhave and now when I search the archives in my memory, I faintly remember my teacher mention this.

...And here you go:

ॐ तत् सत् श्री नारायण तू

पुरुशोत्तमा गुरु तू

सिद्ध बुद्ध तू स्कंद विनायक

सविता पावक तू
ब्रह्म मज़्द तू यह्वा शक्ति तू
इशू पिता प्रभु तू
रुद्र विष्णु तू राम कृष्ण तू रहीम ताओ तू
वासुदेव गो विश्वरूपा तू
चिदानंदा हरी तू
अद्वितीय तू अकाल निरभय अत्मलिंगा शिव तू

Listen to it:

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Twittering about life

I went back on my twitters to see how much I have been twittering about life. I think I got a good collection I would want to share with all. The top most being the latest, put in yesterday on twitter :)

Life is magic and miracles................I live them

In life we need to trust the Almighty...if we lose that trust....nothing remains

Why do ppl keep complaining abt life....there is so much joy, abundance and blessings...why does one overlook these

Life is weird...sometimes one cant really say...happy or sad..good or bad

If we didnt worry so much....there aint much bad happening

I have faith and trust in life and its magic ...:)

The good thing abt life is it just gets crazier

Ye zindagi kitni khoobsurat hai...

ज़िन्दगी यूँ भी गुज़र ही जाती क्यों तेरा राहगुज़र याद आया ...

Smiles are gifts to the world...thank u

Life has challenges...and thats why its fun

Life is a song...

Sometimes I am amazed with the abundance in life...

Life aint tough....we make it tough

This world has so many nice ppl...so much kindness and love around!!

I cannot always be lucky...most of the times I need to work for it!

Focus is the key

I want to be really passionate abt my job....there is only one person that can help me....myself ;-)

ALL ABOUT YOU ....good article

*One day all the employees reached the office and they saw a big advice on
the door on which it was written:
'Yesterday the person who has been hindering your growth in this company
passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been
prepared in the gym'. *
In the beginning, they all got sad for the death of one of their
colleagues, but after a while they started getting curious to know who was that man who hindered the growth of his colleagues and the company itself.
The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up.
Everyone thought: 'Who is this guy who was hindering my progress? Well, at
least he died!'. One by one the thrilled employees got closer to the
coffin, and when they looked inside it they suddenly became speechless. They stood
nearby the coffin, shocked and in silence, as if someone had touched the
deepest part of their soul.
There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could
see himself. There was also a sign next to the mirror that said: *
'There is only one person who is capable to set limits to your growth:
it is YOU. You are the only person who can revolutionize your life. You are the only
person who can influence your happiness, your realization and your success.
You are the only person who can help yourself. *
Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change,
when your parents change, when your partner changes, when your company
changes. Your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your
limiting beliefs, when you realize that you are the only one responsible for your
life. *
'The most important relationship you can have is the one you have with
yourself'* *

Examine yourself, watch yourself. Don't be afraid of difficulties,
impossibilities and losses: be a winner, build yourself and your
reality.*
* **It's the way you face Life that makes the difference.** *

Interesting Quotes on Vegetarianism

"Is it not a reproach that man is a carnivorous animal? True, he can and does live, in a great measure, by preying on other animals; but this is a miserable way--as any one who will go to snaring rabbits, or slaughtering lambs, may learn--and he will be regarded as a benefactor of his race who shall teach man to confine himself to a more innocent and wholesome diet. What my own practice may be, I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals, as surely as the savage tribes have left off eating each other when they came in contact with the more civilized." Henry David Thoreau in "Walden"

"I do feel that spiritual progress does demand at some stage that we should cease to kill our fellow creatures for the satisfaction of our bodily wants." Mahatma Gandhi

"It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind." Albert Einstein

"As long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seeds of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love." Pythagorus

"It is necessary to correct the error that vegetarianism has made us weak in mind, or passive or inert in action. I do not regard flesh-food as necessary at any stage" Mahatma Gandhi

"Nonviolence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all living beings, we are all savages." Thomas Edison, inventor

"When a man wants to murder a tiger, he calls it sport; when a tiger wants to murder him, he calls it ferocity." George Bernard Shaw

"Truly man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds them. We live by the death of others. We are burial places! I have since an early age abjured the use of meat..." Leonardo da Vinci, painter, sculptor, poet.

"A dead cow or sheep lying in a pasture is recognized as carrion. The same sort of carcass dressed and hung up in a butcher's stall passes as food!" J. H. Kellog

"I do not see any reason why animals should be slaughtered to serve as human diet when there are so many substitutes. After all, man can live without meat..." The Dalai Lama

"He who does not value life does not deserve it." Leonardo da Vinci

"Flesh-eating is simply immoral, as it involves the performance of an act which is contrary to moral feeling--killing." Count Leo Tolstoy, great Russian philosopher

"I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world if we are superior to it." Mahatma Gandhi

"I look my age. It is the other people who look older than they are. What can you expect from people who eat corpses?" George Bernard Shaw

"Oh, my fellow men, do not defile your bodies with sinful foods. We have corn, we have apples bending down the branches with their weight, and grapes swelling on the vines. There are sweet-flavored herbs, and vegetables which can be cooked and softened over the fire, nor are you denied milk or thyme-scented honey. The earth affords a lavish supply of riches, of innocent foods, and offers you banquets that involve no bloodshed or slaughter; only beasts satisfy their hunger with flesh, and not even all of those, because horses, cattle, and sheep live on grass." Pythagorus

"Can you really ask what reason Pythagorus had for abstinence from flesh? For my part I rather wonder both by what accident and in what state of mind the first man touched his mouth to gore and brought his lips to the flesh of a dead creature, set forth tables of dead, stale bodies, and ventured to call food and nourishment the parts that had a little before bellowed and cried, moved and lived. How could eyes endure the slaughter when throats were slit and hides flayed and limbs torn from limb? How could his nose endure the stench? How was it that the pollution did not turn away his taste, which made contact with sores of others and sucked juices and serums from mortal wounds? It is certainly not lions or wolves that we eat out of self-defense; on the contrary, we ignore these and slaughter harmless, tame creatures without stings or teeth to harm us. For the sake of a little flesh we deprive them of sun, of light, of the duration of life to which they are entitled by birth and being.

"If you declare that you are naturally designed for such a diet, then first kill for yourself what you want to eat. Do it, however, only through your own resources, unaided by cleaver or cudgel or any kind of ax." The Roman Plutarch, in an essay "On Eating Flesh".

In a similar line of thinking is this quote: "I'm no shrinking violet. I played hockey until half my teeth were knocked down my throat. And I'm extremely competitive on a tennis court. . . But that experience at the slaughterhouse overwhelmed me. When I walked out of there, I knew I would never again harm an animal! I knew all the physiological, economic, and ecological arguments supporting vegetarianism, but it was firsthand experience of man's cruelty to animals that laid the real groundwork for my commitment to vegetarianism." Peter Burwash, champion tennis player in his book, "A Vegetarian Primer"

"I do not want to make my stomach a graveyard of dead animals." George Bernard Shaw

"He who, seeking his own happiness, punishes or kills beings who also long for happiness, will not find happiness after death." Buddhist Dhammapada

"It may indeed be doubted whether butchers' meat is anywhere a necessary of life. Grain and other vegetables, with the help of milk, cheese, and butter, or oil where butter is not to be had, afford the most plentiful, the most wholesome, the most nourishing, and the most invigorating diet. Decency nowhere requires that any man should eat butchers' meat." Economist Adam Smith in "The Wealth of Nations"

"In all the round world of Utopia there is no meat. There used to be. But now we cannot stand the thought of slaughterhouses. And, in a population that is all educated, and at about the same level of physical refinement, it is practically impossible to find anyone who will hew a dead ox or pig... I can still remember as a boy the rejoicings over the closing of the last slaughterhouse." H. G. Wells, vision of the future in "A Modern Utopia"

"We are all God's creatures--that we pray to God for mercy and justice while we continue to eat the flesh of animals that are slaughtered on our account is not consistent." Isaac Bashevis Singer, Nobel-prize winning author

"Vegetarianism is a greater progress. From the greater clearness of head and quicker apprehension motivated him to become a vegetarian. Flesh-eating is an unprovoked murder." Benjamin Franklin

"Various philosophers and religious leaders tried to convince their disciples and followers that animals are nothing more than machines without a soul, without feelings. However, anyone who has ever lived with an animal--be it a dog, a bird, or even a mouse--knows that this theory is a brazen lie, invented to justify cruelty." Isaac Bashevis Singer

"To be nonviolent to human beings and to be a killer or enemy of the poor animals is Satan's philosophy. In this age there is always enmity against poor animals, and therefore the poor creatures are always anxious. The reaction of the poor animals is being forced on human society, and therefore there is always strain of cold or hot war between men, individually, collectively or nationally." A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, in Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.10.6)

"Every act of irreverence for life, every act which neglects life, which is indifferent to and wastes life, is a step towards the love of death. This choice man must make at every minute. Never were the consequences of the wrong choice as total and as irreversible as they are today. Never was the warning of the Bible so urgent: 'I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life, that you and your children may live.' (Deuteronomy 30:19)" Erich Fromm

"To avoid causing terror to living beings, let the disciple refrain from eating meat... the food of the wise is that which is consumed by the sadhus [holymen]; it does not consist of meat... There may be some foolish people in the future who will say that I permitted meat-eating and that I partook of meat myself, but... meat-eating I have not permitted to anyone, I do not permit, I will not permit meat-eating in any form, in any manner and in any place; it is unconditionally prohibited for all." The Buddha in Dhammapada


In the words of George Bernard Shaw:

We are living graves of murdered beasts
Slaughtered to satisfy our appetites.
We never pause to wonder at our feasts,
If animals like men could possibly have rights.

We pray on Sunday that we may have light,
To guide our footsteps on the paths we tread.
We are sick of war, we do not want to fight,
And we gorge ourselves upon the dead.

Like Carrion Crows we live and feed on meat,
Regardless of the suffering and pain
We cause by doing so, in this we treat,
Defenseless animals for sport or gain -

How can we hope in this world to attain
The peace we say we are so anxious for,
We pray for it o'er hetacomba of slain,
To God while outraging the moral law,
Thus cruelty begets the offspring --- WAR !

Friend indeed

I havent been writing on the blog but my friend has been, he was not around on the blog scene for more than a year and now back in action.

These posts on me...life has no great achievements to show ....so I thot will pick up these 2 to show off ;-)

http://joysandlaughter.blogspot.com/2008/02/passion-at-work-by-satyadarshini-sharma.html

http://joysandlaughter.blogspot.com/2008/01/5-w-and-1-h.html

Its all about relationships!

A chat with friend on gtalk about relationships, this one at her workplace...we both realized at the end what we gained by this conversation...check this out:

friend: i spoke to my manager.. and i think things are good between us
me: wow
what does that mean?
all good now
friend: i just told him that i should n't have been rude to him and stuff
me: and ...
?
friend: and he was like its ok .. things like that happen and stuff
me: oh
:)
friend: i am quite relieved that i have it off my chest
me: yeah
I know what it means to u
congrats...these are the achievements of life..more than money and fame..
friend: now i can concentrate on my work...
me: yeah
:)
friend: yeah very true
me: and it opens doors
to money and fame
after clearing these blocks
;-)
friend: hehe.. good one
me: :)
friend: u should put that one on ur blog